Review: the Wicked King

Title: the Wicked King
Author: Holly Black
Genre: YA/Fantasy

You must be strong enough to strike and strike and strike again without tiring.

The first lesson is to make yourself strong.

After the jaw-dropping revelation that Oak is the heir to Faerie, Jude must keep her younger brother safe. To do so, she has bound the wicked king, Cardan, to her, and made herself the power behind the throne. Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie would be difficult enough if Cardan were easy to control. But he does everything in his power to humiliate and undermine her even as his fascination with her remains undiminished.

When it becomes all too clear that someone close to Jude means to betray her, threatening her own life and the lives of everyone she loves, Jude must uncover the traitor and fight her own complicated feelings for Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world.

The Wicked King picks up where the Cruel Prince left off. After Jude- a mere mortal- tricks Cardan to take the throne and become High King of the lands, Jude stands behind him, trying to mantain that control. With impending war coming, and deceptions wrapped up in way of cunning truths and misdirections since they Fae cannot like, Jude must manuveur carefully desperately trying to keep her brother away from the throne and alive while navigating the Fae world- and the troublesome King who looks to humilate and undermine her at every opportunity. When it is uncovered someone close to Jude is meant to betrayal her, she must uncover who the traitor is, while fighting her feelings, and mainting control over the King, and stop the threats coming from around and within the kingdom before it is too late.
All in all, I loved this book, and story, and characters. I cannot wait to read more about Cardan, Jude and the rest of the Fae, and find out what happens next. This world is fascinating, and wonderous, and filled with magic and the impossible- plus many dangers include those wrapped up in cleverly cunningly disguised truths. And of course I fell deeper for Cardan who went from being a cruel prince unwantinf on the title of King and being decieved, to a king who not only rules over a kingdom he didn't want, but also in wickedness he has always known and is expected of him. 4.5⭐ out of 5⭐.